@Dicentra I scanned over your docs really quickly. Great advice. There's one thing I would suggest is as a tip. Close other windows and applications running on your computer, close other things you have open in your browser, and turn off auto notifications for apps. I find this is a big problem. They think they don't get distracted with this stuff. FOMO is such a huge problem. They should be using their study breaks to check their messages and notifications if they really must.

Back to the more important topic of Monty Python, elderberries don't smell that good when you are cooking them to make elderberry syrup. I contain the pungent smell by cooking in my Instant Pot. Apparently, the bark, stems, and leaves are reputed to smell pretty rank. I've not come across it though because I buy dried berries. Apparently, the indigenous people used to crush this up to make it into a natural insect repellent. You made my brain remember all sorts of scenes yesterday: African or European swallow, I'm not dead yet, It's just a flesh wound/'tis a scratch, and the Knights of the Round Table. This might be funny as to the lack of rigor to be found at times. For the spring final grade for my senior English honors course, my teacher (the head of the English department) allowed a group of us memorized the entire script of Holy Grail and performed it in class over 2 class periods. There was nothing remotely challenging about that course. I really think that teacher was dialing it in that year because I don't recall writing more than a few papers that year or doing anything other than selecting our own books to read and write short reviews.

Coming back to add that I am really impressed by @Dicentraputting this on a public forum to be discussed and dissected. It says a lot about you as a teacher and your character. Massive props to you to allowing people to talk openly about your "baby."

Just musing out loud here... Perhaps, there may be a way to do honors that lines up more with say Bluetent, etc. while honors with advanced studies with the description that this is for older students and/or advanced studies in preparation for future AP studies?

I would be more ok with this IF test locations were forced to be available to everyone. It's so hard to get access as a private homeschooler.

Connie, I would not want to see your current course go away at all either. I am pretty sure that my son is in that target audience that you are wondering what to do with. I am always wondering what to do next with this kid. From what I gather, your Honors course really is like a pre-AP course though I know you can't label it that way because of copyright issues. I don't think I would personally be confused because I have a good sense from the discussions and PMs with other boardies here about the difference between regular and your current honors offering. I would not necessarily want to see you dilute your current offering either. I imagine that your drop off in year 1 & 2 is likely due to people not being aware and having a mismatch between expectations and reality. Anyone going in now should be aware of what is expected in terms of output so plenty of fair warning. I think that you have been more than honest as to the level of rigor of the course which is why the content would be a match but the level of output would likely not be for my son. And that is more than ok because it is your course. You are the teacher and should design a course the way you envision it should be. If you are asking if there is a willing volunteer to pilot an idea that you have...I would be willing to do that. I was planning to enroll him in your regular stream at this point because while he is excited about the honors course description, I don't have buy in on the time commitment. I considered whether to put him in another honors chemistry, but your love for chemistry is really inspiring and comes through in your posts and what others have said about your courses. I'm not interested in ticking a box...I'm interested in a teacher who will loves what they teach and is able to impart that to their students. The time commitment is something I would hold him to, and he was honest in saying he didn't think he wanted to commit to that. There's a difference between willingness and ability. I do think he has the ability IF he puts in the effort...but I won't go there unless there is willing heart. However, he still has some time to think on it because he is also aware of the current option to try the honors level and then drop down.

Blue Tent Online has an Honors Algebra 2. https://www.bluetentonline.com/algebra-2

There's a longer thread that has been going on for almost a month in case you didn't know about it.

I like the flat thick kind that have a pocket to slide your hand into so you can use it like a mitt. I haven't had a reason to replace any yet...but I do know there are some double pocket ones on the market. It's sort of in between your two choices.

I actually avoid using my name for an LLC that I use for rental property. I don't necessarily want to draw unnecessary attention to who I am. I used geography to come up with the name of our LLC. In our case, we used names of mountains.

@Terabith I don't think of it has less protection...I think it is more like thinking about your risk budget and how much you are willing to expend. Masking doesn't eliminate all risk of exposure. It just reduces your overall risk exposure. Of course, when there is a lot of community spread...then doing what you can to minimize how much your expose yourself is a good thing to at least lower the amount of virus you are exposed to which means if you do get sick, you will likely have a milder illness. I use that map from GA Tech to think about when and how often anyone in my household needs to go anywhere right now. Looking at that helps me decide based on the number of people indoors the likelihood someone is infected. In San Diego, the health department started testing for the UK strain and all the cases are popping up with no travel history so they have concluded that it is wide spread throughout the community right now. AFAIK in the anecdotal stories I am hearing, the people who are contracting it where not adhering to social distancing and masking. And there was lots of large gatherings for all the various holidays. Here's the tool if you want to use it: https://covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu/

I want to add that I really like using the Say Hi app to practice my spoken language skills as it will translate it into English for me. I use it to practice my Cantonese (a Chinese dialect) skills as pronunciation and tone (8 of them) is really important. Then I know if I am off. I don't have people to practice with very much.

I'm not sure how to get you past that feeling, but one way to really boost your comprehension is to watch TV shows and movies in Spanish. If you have Netflix, it is really easy to switch the language to Spanish and add in English subtitling. That would be a painless way of working on your receptive language skills.

No sprouted rice over here either. We use white rice. I really have never seen it served this way.

I just realized what you are saying above...are you using instant/quick rise/bread machine yeast? If dense, it sounds like it is a yeast problem. There really is yeast sold that is optimal for bread machines. ETA: https://www.breadmachinepros.com/blog/what-is-bread-machine-yeast/

On that first link, those recipes were developed for specific models. It might help to try a recipe for your specific model. Clearly the one of the side of the machine isn't working. Also, are you weighing your ingredients?

The AMC 8 was "proctored" where we tested. They had all the kids on zoom while working on the exam.

I wouldn't suggest going out and doing this deliberately, but Corelle is break resistant. Overseas, I'm told Corelle is considered quite premium and people pay a lot to get their hands on it. My sister sold her Corelle when moving back from Singapore for $$$.

I dislike dealing with broken dishes, so I basically have just gone with using Corelle dishes in winter frost. I know it's boring...

Did you start off trying recipes developed for Zoji? https://www.zojirushi.com/app/recipe/breadmakers There a little troubleshooting blog here for Zoji: https://www.zojirushi.com/blog/?p=4617

This is a longer article about solving the 3 across puzzle. https://thecarseatlady.com/vehicles/3-across/

I used Singapore Math and Beast Academy (physical books) a year behind. I used the extras in Singapore as well. You could consider using the Singapore Intensive Practice or the Challenging Word Problems books to go deeper. Beast Academy would do that as well. Some people prefer to use the Fan Math Process Skills in Problem Solving for Singapore style word problems because it has explicit instruction and is a stand alone series that does not have to be used with SM. CWP does not have explicit instruction as it is meant as supplemental to SM curriculum. Fan Math also has Speed Math Strategies which focuses on mental math skills. Zaccaro Primary Grade Challenge Math could be used as well.

Here is the review of Toyota Sienna. Read about all the seat configurations by model year here: https://thecarseatlady.com/vehicles/minivan/toyota-sienna/

Yes, but you won't have LATCH tether for all seats if that is what you are asking. However all carseats and boosters can be seatbelt installed. I would just choose carefully where you place seats. In any event, you probably need to plan for seat belt install across the entire 3rd row. My personal inclination would be to try to do the carseat in the middle position with boosters on the outside and the kids who can manage independently buckling or at least that one of the booster kids can help the middle carseat get buckled. I would leave youngest in the middle row for adult assistnace to buckle. This is a list of vehicles that you do 3 across. You also have to be selective about which carseats you buy as well if you are solving for 3 across as you will want ones that have are narrower in width. https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/great-vehicles-that-seat-three-car-seats-across#:~:text=2020 Kia Sedona&text=The Kia Sedona is the,set in its third row. https://thecarseatlady.com/narrowest-car-seats You can check tether and latch configuration for specific vehicles by model year on car seat lady as well.

are you okay with separating it into two roasts. I think it will turn out better that way.